Unlock the power of seeds and bark

Better Nutrition, July, 2000 by J. Jamison Starbuck

What do the seemingly dissimilar pine bark and grape seed have in common? Procyanidins, of course! When listing the factors that influence the course of human health, procyanidins go on the "essential to good long-term health" list. They are members of the class of compounds known as flavonoids, which are famous for their ability to protect and strengthen living organisms.

Plant chemistry

Flavonoids are actually a type of plant pigment, and can therefore be found in a wide variety of plants. Flavonoids give plants their color; foods like berries, bee pollen, plums, cherries, green tea, citrus fruit, hawthorn berries, red cabbage, rhubarb, parsley, beans, onions, apples, currants, grapes and pine bark are rich in flavonoid content. In various forms, they are among the most sought-after components of many natural and botanical medicines. And there's good reason for that. Flavonoids assist in a huge array of vital bodily functions. They are powerful antioxidants and they help the body defend itself against viruses, carcinogens and poisonous and allergic substances.

A single group of flavonoids with multiple names & uses

Procyanidins are a group of very popular flavonoids. They are known by a variety of names: proanthocyanidins, procyanidolic oligomers (PCOs) and oligomeric proanthocyanidins (OPCs). In lay terminology, procyanidins are also referred to as either bioflavonoids or the shorter term, flavonoids. For convenience and simplicity's sake, I will use the term OPCs.

OPCs are what give red wine its reputation as being good for the heart, and they are also abundant in supplemental preparations of grape seed extract and pine bark. Consumers rave about OPCs because of their broad-spectrum effect in improving health and preventing disease. They are used in strengthening and protecting capillaries and collagen, in increasing intracellular vitamin C levels and in scavenging free radicals -- the compounds thought to cause cancer and tissue and organ damage.

OPCs, primarily in the form of pine bark or grape seed extract, are recommended to treat such conditions as ocular disease, cardiac disease, circulatory disorders, inflammation, diabetes, liver damage, ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and even cancer. Let's explore them more fully.

OPCs in Coronary Artery Disease

Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) is a major cause of debility and death in the United States and in other developed nations. CAD often strikes suddenly, and in up to 20 percent of people with CAD, death is immediate.

It is well known that the three major things which lead to CAD are hypertension, smoking and high cholesterol. Diet, exercise and stress reduction programs have become almost commonplace recommendations to those suffering with or at risk for CAD. However, for some people, diet and lifestyle changes alone are incomplete solutions to CAD, and for others, noncompliance is the issue. As a result, researchers worldwide perpetually search for new medicines that might lessen the ravages of CAD. OPCs are one of nature's medicines being explored.

An interesting research project, published in a recent issue of the Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics looked at the effect of an oral dose of an OPC extract containing 300 mg/day dose of grape seed procyanidins. The study participants were 20 healthy students, between the ages of 19 and 31. They were nonsmokers, ate a standardized diet throughout the study period and were of normal height and weight. None took vitamin supplements during the study.

The research was a single-blind, randomized placebo-controlled crossover study. What researchers found was that while the grape seed extract produced "a measurable increase in serum total antioxidant activity," after only 5 days of supplementation, the elevated antioxidant activity was not due to the vitamin content of the grape seed extract, as the researchers found no change in serum vitamin C or E levels during OPC supplementation. Rather, it was likely due to OPCs.

In concluding their study, the authors suggested that the consumption of antioxidants such as those in OPCs "may play an important role in preventing premature death by reducing the risk of CAD and other vascular disorders, which are known to be associated with oxidative stress."

OPCs offer health benefits in other areas of heart health and with circulatory disorders. It is well known that smoking increases platelet aggregation (the clumping together of platelets which can lead to stroke), heart attack and vascular damage. For this reason, daily aspirin is recommended to both cigarette smokers and patients at risk for heart attack or stroke. In a 1999 study, published in Thrombosis Research, researchers found that a 200-mg dose of a standard pine bark supplement was as useful as aspirin in reducing platelet aggregation. And, unlike aspirin, pine bark did not cause gastrointestinal bleeding in the participants.

OPCs have also been looked at for their potential benefit in the protection against damage from myocardial infraction -- commonly referred to as MI or heart attack. At the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, laboratory rats fed OPCs from grape seed were found to have improved recovery from induced MI as compared to rats who were not given OPCs.